Mommy and Sweet Pea

I had Sweet Pea draw the number out of a bowl. It took a couple of tries for her to get JUST ONE number, but the lucky winner of the Yo Gabba Gabba t-shirt giveaway is...... #1 Stevie said "I'm in! I hope you guys have fun...I'm so jealous! Rubes is a bit too young, otherwise I might've gone. But that's only because I love the show so much. Heh." Thanks for entering!

Today, I was surprised to get a message that school (work) is canceled. Everyone has been talking about this possibility for days, but I really didn't think it would happen. There was only about an inch of snow at my house, but apparently the roads were quite icy. So, instead of getting up early, dressing up for parent conferences, and commuting to work, I got to head back to bed for an extra two hours! This was just the break I needed -- a day at home with Stella to clean up before Thanksgiving and get a few projects done. This is what we accomplished: Repaired two pairs of Sweet Pea's wool longies that had small seam holes from lots of wear last winter. Finally sewed curtains for Sweet Pea's room: You can see in the above photo that the sheets are stripped off of Sweet Pea's bed. That's another thing I did today: changed and washed all our sheets. We also raked the leaves in the front (photo of Sweet Pea from last week) and used the leaves to put the...

My house is somewhat clean, but not as clean as I'd like it. A 6 or 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. I sweep a couple of times a week, do the dishes most nights, and wipe down counters and pick toys off the floor almost every day. I vacuum probably every other week; we only have carpet in the bedrooms and rarely wear shoes in there. Cleaning the bathroom is something that I dread, but I LOVE having a clean bathroom. In my ideal world, the floors would be mopped, the bedrooms would be vacuumed, the sheets would be changed, and the bathroom cleaned, every week. That is a schedule I have never been able to actually achieve though. There is just too much else important going on in life! Last year, my dad's Christmas gift to me was house-cleaning, and he often cleans when he babysits. Coming home from a date night to a clean bathroom is a pretty amazing feeling. I highly recommend it! :) Unfortunately, although my husband, Average, does a good job of cleaning when he does it, he just does...

Attending a live show is always a treat. The Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! There's a Party in My City! show last Monday was no exception. We arrived only about ten minutes early, and it felt a little weird to walk into a venue where I normally attend serious plays and musical performances, full of children, toddlers, and babies, many in costume. I had been to see The Color Purple there two days before, and it was quite a different atmosphere! Unsure how Sweet Pea would react to the show before we went, I was a bit overwhelmed at first and so was she, but after the first few acts she settled in to enjoy it and danced along to the music at times. Overall, it was a fun experience for us all and a happy memory to look back on as our first live performance as a family. The show producers, or planners, or whatever they are, included a few extras for the audience that really added to the experience for the kids. There was confetti that shot out over the crowd, a huge balloon d...

I know it's a bit early for a Thanksgiving post, but I find I have a lot to be thankful for right now. My sweet, smart, adorable daughter, who makes me laugh every day My loving, talented husband, who changed my car's oil today My parents and all they have taught me, through example and otherwise Of course all the rest of my supportive and warm family All my friends who babysit for me, often on short notice My cozy home -- not quite perfect yet but getting closer all the time My wonderful job teaching high school English Weekends and getting a break from my wonderful job Ice cream Skype, which has allowed me to see my sister several times in the last month even though she is on the other side of the world! Being a doula. Supporting families as they welcome a new baby is just the most amazing and rewarding experience. The fact that my daughter sleeps in in the mornings My health and the ability to go out and run for 40 minutes and feel great afterwards What are ...

Well, the shirts are here, folks! One lucky winner will have his or her choice of not one, but TWO Yo Gabba Gabba t-shirts! My family will be wearing our own on Monday, November 15 at the live show here in Eugene, Oregon. Look for a review of the show in the next week or so. To give away, I have either pink or grey in size kids 3, pink or grey in size kids 5/6, and grey adult XL. I will be posting this giveaway on my other, specific to Eugene, blog (go to www.eugeneactivefamily.com ) as well, for the other THREE t-shirts. You may enter both, and up your chances. I will email the winner from each blog and the first to reply gets first choice on the colors and sizes. To enter here, just comment below with your email address! You can enter extra times by doing any or all of the following: 1. Publicly follow my blog and comment for one additional entry. 2. Follow @rosepeck on Twitter and comment for one additional entry. You may also tweet once a day for an additional entry....

I was offered free tickets to a Yo Gabba Gabba show at the Hult Center here in Eugene, for next Monday, November 15. I wasn't sure about it at first. We don't have cable and Sweet Pea doesn't watch TV shows yet, so I checked out some YouTube videos and read about the show on a few sites. Sweet Pea really enjoyed the little clips we watched on the computer, and my husband, who loves kids shows for some reason, had seen it before thinks it's pretty good. A hipster friend at the bicycle shop originally showed it to him online. So, after my brief research I decided to go for it. I think it will be really fun! And we are getting t-shirts for a giveaway this week! I think I'm going to get the shirts tomorrow so I'll post the rules and photos of the shirts then. After the show, I'll be writing a review for you all to read. What I like about Yo Gabba Gabba so far is the emphasis on music. Looking forward to the show!